After the controversial row last week, columnist Suzanne Moore has said sorry and left Twitter

Controversial journalist Suzanne Moore has told the transgender community that “I am not your enemy” after attracting hate mail over an article.

Writing in the New Statesman about pressure on women to be slim, the former Guardian columnist quipped that the ideal body shape is “that of a Brazilian transsexual”.

The seemingly throwaway comment sparked fury on Twitter, and Moore was forced to abandon the site to avoid the abuse, saying “Bye guys its [sic] been real”.

This afternoon (Monday 14th January) she returned to the microblogging site for 20 minutes to apologise and thank her supporters.

She described the abuse as “threatening, ignorant and nasty”, and said: “I am grateful for the support of I have had from many top notch people gay straight trans who cares?”

She apologised to the transgender community, saying: “I am sorry to those that I misrepresented.

"To think I am opposite side of anyone who has had to think long and hard about gender is horrible. I am not your enemy.”

Moore then went on to confirm that she is leaving Twitter for the foreseeable future: “But for now I see must leave for a while. Again I am grateful for the kindness of strangers. Solidarity. Bye Suzanne x”

The scandal was made worse by fellow columnist and friend Julie Burchill defending Moore in the Observer yesterday, where she described transgender people as “d***s in chicks’ clothing” and “bed-wetters in bad wigs”.

The Observer received hundreds of complaints, and Lynne Featherstone, Minister for International Development, has called for Burchill to be fired.

She said: “Julie Burchill's rant against transgender community is absolutely disgusting – a bigoted vomit for which the Observer should sack her.”

Despite this, Moore has shored up a lot of support from people who criticise those who forced her off the site, with many imploring her to stay on the site and ignore critics, with journalist Milo Yiannopoulos saying: “f*** the haters”.